A fresh start
by grangergal101
Summary: Harry has a twin sister Kaylee and after Harry’s outburst at ‘Aunt Marge’ in the summer before their third year. Severus is sent to investigate what’s happening in the Dursley house. What he finds is very disturbing. Full summary inside
1. Punishment

**Authors Note:** Okay, after reading a few of these, I decided I'd try one of these myself XD. Probably won't be updated regularly though due to school commitments.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Harry Potter series or any characters therein; this is a non-for-profit fan work that is the result of one mildly insane teenage girl's love for the series (and her completely insane beta, who trims off the scary bits).

Thanks to my wonderful bet Lrona for all her help.

**Summary: **Harry has a twin sister Kaylee and after Harry's outburst at 'Aunt Marge' in the summer before their third year. Severus is sent to investigate what's happening in the Dursley house. What he finds is very disturbing. A Snape adopts Harry and Kaylee fic. Absolutely no slash. Warning: Child Abuse, Violence, CP, Other Cannon, AU.

**List of Events:**

Year 1:Same except when fighting the troll, Kaylee was comforting Hermione and they both told Professor McGonnagall they had gone after the troll, both find mirror of erised and both fight Quirrel etc. Both take an instant dislike towards Snape.

Year 2: Same except Harry and Kaylee both go down into the chamber where Kaylee is knocked unconscious and wakes up to her injured brother trying to stab the diary and she stabs it.

Extra Information: Kaylee doesn't like flying that much, they share a bed while at the Dursleys. They both have a magical connection (the feel each others consciousness and sometimes pain [only if the other twin wants them to feel it], but can't communicate with other), both also have scars.

**Chapter 1: Punishment**

'I shouldn't have done it Kaylee, I shouldn't have lost control like that, I know, but I just...snapped! I'm going to be kicked out of Hogwarts for sure! I _blew up Aunt Marge_ for crying out loud! Now they'll come, snap my wand and I will be stuck here in this horrible place all on my own while you go off to school. How could I have been so stupid?'

Harry and Kaylee were sitting in their room, they had tried to run away once Harry had blown up Aunt Marge but Vernon had grabbed hold of Kaylee as they were running out the door so Harry was forced to stay behind, he just couldn't leave his sister to their mercy. Uncle Vernon had quite literally thrown them into their room and locked the padlock on the door behind him, there was no escaping. Even if Harry had had the time to pick the lock, their uncle would be able to grab one of them easily as soon ass they made it down the stairs. As their uncle had left the room he had promised them that they would pay for what they had done. The twins didn't like the sound of that. They knew what Uncle Vernon's punishments were like, and knew that how ever much regret they were feeling now, they would be regretting it even more when he uncle came back.

'Calm down, Harry,' soothed Kaylee, 'everything is going to be okay. I'll tell the ministry that it was me who blew up Aunt Marge; I've never used underage magic before so they'll probably just give me a warning like they did when Dobby levitated that cake. And as for Uncle Vernon, we've lived through his punishments before; we can live through it again!'

Harry started to calm down, but the calm did not last long for either twin. They both heard the unmistakable sound of their Uncle trudging up the stairs. In the backs of their mind they had been mentally preparing for this. They had even gone as fare as to worry what was taking him so long, he was usually prompt with their punishments.

'Kaylee, stay behind me. This whole thing is my fault; I don't want you getting hurt for this.'

'But Harry! You took it for me last night!' Kaylee begun but her brother silenced her argument telling her that if he had had enough he would tell her and that if they kept talking now, it was just going to make their uncle angrier. They arranged themselves as planned and mentally prepared for what was to come.

The door swung open with a resounding bang and the smell of whiskey wafted into the room. The twins knew what this meant and cringed inwardly, it was going to be worse than they had originally thought.

'Freaks!' he spat at the twins, his voice dripping with venom, quiet but deadly. 'No! It's not enough that you used your freakishness on my dear sister! But then, you just had to take it one step further!' The twins looked at each other fearfully. What was going on? What had they possibly done while being locked on their room?! 'You come into my house, you ungrateful little brats, and we feed you, clothe you, give you a place to stay out of the goodness of our hearts and this is how you repay us! You use your freaky little voodoo magic to get me fired! Well I'm telling you both. You'll pay for this; you'll pay for this dearly!'

At this point, Vernon grabbed harry around the neck, punching him in the face and throwing him to the ground. From there he started kicking and punching him while Harry rolled up into a little ball, trying to protect his head. Harry remained silent throughout all of this. They knew from experience that if they made a sound during their punishments it only made it worse. After all, it wouldn't do for the neighbours to hear, they might start asking uncomfortable questions.

As the shower of blows rained down on Harry, Kaylee sat there until she could take it no more. The connection she shared with her brother let her feel that he was starting to loose consciousness. She had known when Harry had said it that he had no intention on asking her to step in, he would rather remain being beaten while unconscious than let her hurt. To hell with what he wanted, she threw herself in front of Harry, protecting him from the never-ending blows. She felt a sharp pain in her right arm and over the sound of steel capped boots hitting her soft flesh she heard a distinctive snap. She knew it had broken. She still did not make a sound. As the blows kept raining down on her, she cradled her injured arm as best she could and slowly followed her brother into the depths of unconsciousness.

**Author's Note: **So what did you guys think????? Please R&R, no flames though, please. Constructive criticism would be great, though. I hope you liked it XD


	2. Saviour

**Author's Note: ** Hey thanks for reading this story so far. I really hope you like it. Please R&R. Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Harry Potter series or any characters therein; this is a non-for-profit fan work that is the result of one mildly insane teenage girl's love for the series.

**Chapter 2 – Saviour**

Severus Snape was going to have a nice long chat with Dumbledore when he got back. He was not the old man's personal lackey!

He had travelled to Hogwarts to drop off his final round of potions to replenish the Hospital Wing's stocks only to be met by Minerva McGonnagall who had handed him an address and a note from the headmaster.

_**Severus,**_

_**There was an incident in a muggle household last night concerning the use of underage magic by one of our students. The ministry have just informed me that they have dealt with the effects of this but are not taking any legal action as it was performed wandlessly and as such appears to be unintentional. They have, however, requested that a representative from the school go and talk to the student and evaluate the circumstances in which this was performed, and inform this student of the dangers of magical outbursts. I am rather busy today and Minerva also has business to attend to and I therefore ask that you may look into the incident. I am afraid that I have no-one else that can complete this simple task for me. Minerva will give you the address with this letter. I shall look forward seeing you tonight to hear your report. **_

_**Have a pleasant day,**_

_**Albus Dumbledore**_

He was now standing outside the front of number four privet drive cursing the old man's 'simple request.' Surely Dumbledore had planned it this way. Dumbledore knew that he would reject the request, knowing full well which student, or it would be more appropriate to say _students,_ resided at this address. So the old man had not delivered the request personally, therefore not giving him the opportunity to refuse.

_Unintentional, my arse!_ he thought to himself. They were probably a bit attention craved and had decided to pull some sort of stunt, believing that the rules that applied to everyone else didn't apply to them. Just like their father in every way! It was bad enough that he had to put up with their foolish antics and their disregard for simple rules during the school term, but now they had to work their way in to his nice, peaceful summer holidays as well!

Nonetheless, he had a task to complete and standing here thinking about his unfortunate situation wasn't going to get it done. The sooner he had finished here, the sooner he could go back to Spinner's End and forget that the Potter brats ever existed; a constant reminder of all that he had lost.

There were those eyes, Lily's beautiful green almond shaped eyes that starred back at him from the face and body of his schoolboy tormentor; and then there was the other one. With Lily's beautiful long red hair and her petite features that surrounded the eyes of his least favourite person in the world. (Except for perhaps Black. Or maybe not, they were pretty even.) Both with the obnoxious, arrogant attitude of their father.

He snapped himself out of these thoughts that only ever led to memories that were almost too painful to bear. He shoved them away, back to the depths of his mind. There were definitely advantages to being an accomplished occlumens. He briskly walked up the short path that led to the door and knocked three times. The door opened to reveal a horse-faced, blonde woman with a long skinny neck. Upon seeing him, this woman gave no other greeting than a quiet little squeal and a screech of 'VERNON!' Severus couldn't help but smile a little on the inside at this response; he considered his unexpected visit as a small payback for her bitchy attitude towards him as a child.

A big beefy man with a large face and a big moustache came to the door and, upon taking in his appearance, his face quickly changed to a colour of deep purple. Severus could only assume that this man was Petunia's husband.

At this point, Severus decided that he had had enough pleasantries (hah!) and stated his reasons for being there.

'Hello, my name is Professor Severus Snape and I am here representing Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I wish to speak with Mr Harry James Potter and Miss Kaylee Lillian Potter regarding the performance of underage magic at 8.29 pm yesterday evening.' Ugh! He was sounding like a ministry official!

'The good for nothing little freaks ran away after they blew up my sister! Is that all?' Vernon said curtly. Great! Not only did they perform underage magic but they left the safety of the blood wards with a mass murderer – who was very likely out to get them - on the loose! Now he knew why the brats had no respect for the rules, they had no regard for their own safety at all!

He was going to have to go back to Dumbledore and tell him that the twins had run away and hope to the heavens that the old man didn't drag him back into the search for them. _SCREECH!_ A sound from overhead made him look up. He could see the twins' owl in the window, standing beside her cage with the window open. That's unusual; they wouldn't have left their owl here if they were going to run away would they? He didn't know what compelled him to do so but he quickly delved into Petunia's mind in an attempt to get to the bottom of it and he saw that her husband had lied. They had tried to run away but her husband had locked them in their room. His patience having been overly tried already he sent two body bind spells their way and closing the door behind him, headed up the stairs.

He walked along to the door that he had seen in Petunia's mind and was slightly disconcerted at the sight of the bars and padlock. He quickly used _alohomora_ to unlock the padlock and walked inside. He was shocked beyond belief at the sight before him.

The room was small and bare, one bed with a single blanket and a foam mattress against the wall. No pillows were on the bed. On the window ledge sat an owl, her cage beside her. No trunks were in sight. A small pile of clothes that strongly resembled rags sat inside the open dresser. At the foot of bed, lying unconscious in pools of their own blood, looking like they'd been attacked by a herd of Hippogriffs, were the twins. The supposed saviours of the wizarding world, each curled up in the foetal position, bloodied and battered. The girl, who resembled Lily so much, was cradling her right arm and Severus could see sharp white bone protruding from it.

After summoning the twin's trunks and the owl cage and then shrinking them, he levitated the twins carefully behind him. Trying not to worsen their injuries, he decided on the best course of action to take from there. He could apparate to Spinner's End and take a direct floo to Hogwarts, but that would probably worsen their injuries. So he decided that he would apparate to Hogsmeade and then take them to Hogwarts. If he wasn't so busy levitating the twins as he walked out the door, he would have hexed Petunia and her husband to oblivion. As it was, he left them there. The body bind would wear off in a couple of hours, but right now, his first priority was the twins. As soon as he was beyond the apparation barriers he apparated to Hogsmeade, headed straight for the castle, and sent his patronus to Poppy, telling her to meet him at the hospital wing, urgently.

When he reached the hospital wing, he gently laid their unconscious forms on the beds and sent his patronus to Albus now, asking him to come immediately. Meanwhile, Poppy was running diagnostics and treating their injuries. He sat down to wait. He was eternally thankful that he had just replenished the hospital wing's stocks, especially the blood replenishing potion. The headmaster arrived at the same time Poppy finished tending to the twins' immediate injuries.

'They are both still unconscious and they are both badly injured,' Poppt told them both. 'Harry has a bit of swelling on the brain, and they are both far too thin and very undernourished, but all things considered, they are going to be alright. Here is a list of their injuries, after you are finished reading, I would like to know what happened to them.'

**Patient: **Harry James Potter

**Sex: **Male

**Age: **13

**Height: **156cm

**Weight: **42 Kilograms (severely underweight)

**Date: **02 August

**Illness / Injuries: **

3 Fractured Ribs

Fractured Skull

Broken Nose

Internal Bleeding

Swelling on the brain

Fractured Tibia

Severe Bruising

Numerous Abrasions

**Patient: **Kaylee Lillian Potter

**Sex:** Female

**Age: **13

**Height: **154cm

**Weight:** 47 Kilograms (severely underweight)

**Date: **02 August

**Illness / Injuries: **

2 Fractured Ribs

Broken radius (Protruding)

Fractured Mandible

Internal Bleeding

Partially Functioning Kidney

Fractured Pelvis

Severe Bruising

Numerous Abrasions


	3. Revelations

**Author's Note: ** XDXDXDXDXDXD Another chapter for you

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the Harry Potter series or any characters therein; this is a not-for-profit fan work that is the result of one mildly insane teenage girl's love for the series.

**Beta's Note: **Mildly? *raises eyebrow*

* * *

**Chapter 3: Revelations**

Kaylee woke in an unfamiliar room and tried to work out what had happened. The last thing she remembered was her uncle kicking her and the pain in her right arm. When she looked down at the arm in question she saw that it was fine. She looked around, why was she in a hospital? Her Uncle would never take her to such a place, they would ask too may questions. Where was Harry? Was he back at the Dursleys? In which case, was he alright and why was she here? These questions were answered when she heard a groaning to her left and she hoisted herself up. She winced, still heavily bruised from her beating. She could see her brother regaining consciousness beside her. That bought her back to her original question. Where was she and why was she there?

At that moment four familiar figures arrived at the base of their beds. However, this only added to her extensive list of questions. What on earth were her Hogwarts professors doing there? Exactly where they were she still didn't know... She was about to ask this when she was silenced by Professor Dumbledore as he started to speak. 'I'm sure you both have a lot of questions but first, if you don't mind, I ask that you allow us to ask you some of our own first.' The twins nodded reluctantly in agreement.

'Firstly, you are both in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing being treated for a rather extensive list of injuries. There is also evidence that similar injuries have happened to you both over period of many years. Could you please explain to us how you sustained these injuries?' Madame Pomfrey had done some more extensive diagnostic tests and had found many partially healed injuries inflicted as much as four years previously. He was disturbed by this revelation and wanted to get to the bottom of it.

The twins looked at each other, wondering the same thing. Should they tell the truth? Their Hogwarts Professors (except perhaps Professor Snape and definitely Professor Quirrel) had only ever had their best interests at heart, but what would happen if they told them? Would they confront their relatives and send them back there? Their uncle's wrath would be unbelievable if that were to be the case, but if they were to remove them from his care would things be much better? Eventually Kaylee decided that she should tell the truth and Harry nodded his consent for her to do so. They could not strictly communicate with each other, but they knew each other so well each could sense what the other was thinking.

'Well Professor, when we don't do our chores, or we do something wrong, our uncle punishes us.' She said simply.

'What do they do to punish you?' Dumbledore asked softly, not really wishing to know, but knowing that he had to ask.

'Well sometimes we are confined to our room, or kept without food. If we've been really troublesome or naughty, he comes up to our room and gives us "special attention".'

'When he gives you "special attention" what does he do?'

'He comes upstairs and beats us,' explained Kaylee. Dumbledore almost sighed with relief; while this was a horrible thing to be doing to children he was glad that it hadn't gone any further.

'What exactly happened last night?' Dumbledore enquired.

'Well,' Harry started, knowing he would be better equipped to handle the situation than his sister, 'Uncle Vernon's sister, Aunt Marge came over. She doesn't like us very much and always gets her dog, Ripper, to chase after us. She thinks we're nasty, misbehaved brats who go to St Brutus' and St Josephine's school for incurably criminal boys and girls respectively. Anyway, she was going on as usual about how we were good for nothing and about how they were so good for taking us in when she would have just dumped us in the nearest orphanage and I…'

'I just snapped!' interjected Kaylee. 'All of a sudden she started to inflate and she just kept blowing up and up and just floated away.'

'We knew that our uncle would be really angry with us,' Harry continued, 'so we decided to run away... but then he got a hold on Kaylee and so I followed her into our room. We couldn't escape. Even if I managed to pick the padlock I knew that he'd manage to get a hold of one of us. He came up a little while later and started blaming us for him losing his job...' Harry trailed off.

'It was the worst he's ever been,' Kaylee went on for him. 'He was drunk and he started beating Harry up because he was closest. Harry had decided to protect me because I took most of it the other night. When Harry passed out I stepped in front of him and he kept kicking me until I was unconscious too. We woke up here.'

'Thank you, Harry, Kaylee,' Dumbledore said gently. He knew how hard that would have just been for them. He also knew the pair were hiding something about the blowing up of their aunt but did not feel like picking up on their lie at this moment in time. He would deal with it later. 'I believe I promised you I'd answer your questions now.'

The twins looked at each other, silently agreeing on what their first question would be. 'How did we get here?' Harry asked hesitantly.

'I believe Professor Snape would be the best person to answer that,' replied Dumbledore. The twins cast a questioning glance at the headmaster, but Professor Snape started speaking.

'I was sent to enquire about the events of August the first, when I got there I heard your owl hooting and proceeded upstairs despite your uncle's protests that you two had ran away. I found you both in your room passed out in pools of you own blood. I removed you from their care and brought you here.'

'Will we be going back there?' asked Kaylee quietly. She desperately hoped that they would not have to go back to that horrid place.

'No,' said Professor McGonnagall calmly, shooting the headmaster a death glare as she did so.

Not wanting to get into this conversation in front of the twins, Professor Dumbledore quickly changed the subject. 'Well, you two need to get some rest. We will discuss more after you two have had some sleep.' Madame Pomfrey came over two them and handed them some potions which the mediwitch instructed them to take.


	4. Guardian

**Author's Note: **Well, here's another chapter for you guys. A nice long one. I hope you guys like it. Don't forget, review. Click that little button at the bottom of this page, you know you want to.

I would like to thank my wonderful beta Loopy for being her awesome self and fixing all my horrible mistakes.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters therein. All of these characters (except for Kaylee) belong to the wonderful J.K Rowling. I just have fun playing in her little world sometimes.

**Chapter 4 : Guardian**

The professors walked quietly to Madame Pomfrey's office after seeing that the potion had taken effect and were getting some well needed sleep. As soon as they were through the door, however, Severus did not miss the chance to put forth his feelings.

'How could you do that to them? Put them in that place? Stand by for all these years and not bother to check up and see how they were being treated? You let these children grow up in a home environment like mine after seeing the effect it had on me? I became a _Death Eater_ for crying out loud!'

'Severus, I didn't know! They never once let on... Yes, I knew that they were perhaps a little underfed but I never imagined that _this_ was happening. None of us did. You yourself, until today, have believed them to be spoiled little brats. I know that this is partly to the animosity between you and James Potter, however, you never suspected any different.' Professor Dumbledore's voice was painstakingly calm.

'It's true, Severus. I am their head of house and even _I_ didn't see that they were being so badly abused,' added Professor McGonagall. Poppy nodded solemnly. She hadn't seen it either, even though the twins visited the hospital wing perhaps more than any other two students at Hogwarts. It reminded her of James and his friend-turned-betrayer, Sirius Black.

'We cannot blame ourselves for what has happened. For now, we need to think about what we can do to change what will happen in the future,' reasoned Professor McGonagall. 'The twins need to be removed from the Dursleys' care. I don't care about the blood protection; from the state Severus found them in they are in just as much danger from the Dursleys with it as they are from the death eaters without.' Professor Dumbledore had explained the blood bonds to her once the twins had been dropped off at Privet drive those many years ago.

'While I wish that wasn't true, I'm forced to agree. We must find alternative arrangements for them. We must also find someone suitable to look after them. If they were to remain here, the ministry would have to be involved and I do not wish for that to happen, due to there being far too many ministry officials in the pockets of people who would rather Harry and his sister were dead. Poppy is unable to take them in as she will be tending to her ill aunt until the term resumes, and Molly and Arthur are out of the question as they are still in Egypt. With Sirius Black on the loose, we can't afford to be taking any chances.' The three other adults nodded gravely. 'Unless… Severus, I don't know that you have the best relationship with the children... but you may be our only other option. Would you take them in, temporarily of course, just until we find a suitable arrangement? Of course, if you did we would have to find somewhere more sizeable for the three of you to live.'

Severus pondered the old man's decision. He did not want to take the brats on; they would be a burden and ruin the remainder of his break with their foolish antics. On the other hand, he could not let the go back to that place. He knew all too well how easily an environment like that could break a person and he couldn't let that happen to Lily's children. He could try all he liked to imagine that the spawn of James Potter deserved this, but the truth was that no-one deserved this and it was partly his fault they were there to begin with.

'I will,' he unhappily consented. Why was it that Dumbledore was always pushing him into these types of situations?

A few hours later, Madame Pomfrey grudgingly released the twins from her care with strict orders to rest and an apothecary's worth of potions to be taken daily. They still didn't know who their new guardian was going to be but they supposed they were going to be told at teatime.

They were surprised, however, when she led them not to the great hall but to a portrait of a bowl of fruit and proceeded to tickle the pear. The portrait swung open to reveal the Hogwarts kitchen, occupied by less house elves than during the usual school term. They continued past the preparation tables and turned left into a small passageway. At the end of the passageway it opened up to a small room. In the middle was a rectangular table set for six people.

When Madame Pomfrey motioned for them to sit down, they obeyed, taking the two seats on the left side of the table. Madame Pomfrey took a seat opposite Harry. Professors McGonagall and Snape soon came in and took seats at the base of the table and opposite Kaylee respectively. When Professor Dumbledore finally graced them with his presence, he took a seat at the head of the table and the food was served. There were plates of some of Harry and Kaylee's favourite foods: roast beef, mashed potato and pumpkin pie, hot peas and gravy. Harry's mouth was practically watering at the sight before him. He did not start to eat any of the food, however, as no-one had yet given them permission. That was the second rule about living with the Dursleys, right after 'freaks should be seen and not heard'.

'Do you not like the food?' Snape enquired, noticing the lack of food on both children's plates. Harry thought it extremely unfair that the Professor would taunt them so. The Dursleys would do it often, order them to prepare a meal and not give them permission to eat until they were finished and there were only scraps left over... but these were their Hogwarts professors, those who had seemed outraged at the treatment that they had received. Yet here they were now treating them exactly as the Dursleys did, and Snape was taunting them about it. _Then again, this is Snape, _Harry thought to himself bitterly.

'I am expecting an answer sometime tonight, Mr. Potter,' Snape said silkily.

'It includes some of our favourite foods.' Harry replied shortly, his anger at his professor mounting.

'Then why aren't either of you eating?' Snape asked in a dangerous tone. He was getting quite impatient with his new ward's lack of respect.

Sensing her brother's anger, Kaylee replied, 'No-one has given us permission to eat yet, sir.'

'What makes you think you need to be given permission to eat?' asked Severus evenly, not liking where this conversation was going.

'Well, Sir, it was one of the rules we had while living at the Dursleys. "Never eat before being given permission."'

'Miss Potter, for now let's assume that the only rules you have to abide by are the ones that must be followed during the normal school year. Until, of course, your new guardian sets their own for you.' said the Headmaster, always the voice of reason. The twins nodded slowly.

'Who is to be our new guardian, sir?' Kaylee asked quietly, happy that she was allowed to ask questions. She had always been a generally inquisitive person. It had been the cause of most of her beatings when she was younger.

'You are sitting opposite him my dear,' Dumbledore replied. 'Your new guardian is Professor Snape.'

The twins were shocked by this discovery; they were going to live with Professor Snape! He _hated_ them! He only ever made their lives a living hell! How much better was he going to be than the Dursleys? They did not voice their opinions, though, as they were afraid that if they complained they would be sent back to live with their aunt and uncle.

Once they had finished their dinner, the headmaster spoke again. 'Severus, I believe now would be a good time for you to be going to your new home. As I would believe Harry and Kaylee are not up for side-along apparation, I have arranged for Fawkes to take you there.' The twins said a sad goodbye to their professors but were consoled by the thought that Snape couldn't possibly be too horrid to them as someone was bound to check up on them in a few days. The three each reluctantly took hold of Fawkes's feathers and were gone in a flash of light.

They arrived in a grand foyer decorated with scarlet and gold wallpaper and white marble pillars. With another flash of light, Fawkes was gone. Surprised about the blatant Gryffindorishness of the place Kaylee couldn't stop herself from asking her professor, 'You live here?'

'Well, Miss Potter, not exactly. This house actually belongs to your family, your grandparents lived here. You were to inherit it when you came of age, but since Professor Dumbledore was the executor of their will, he managed to arrange things a little differently. My own house is certainly _not_ suitable for the three of us to live in.' Snape replied. At that moment a house elf appeared with a crack. It was wearing a scarlet pillowcase with the potter crest on it.

'Hello, Masters and Misstress,' the little elf said in a high-pitched voice, bowing low. 'I am Elsie, the head elf here at Potter estate. Is there anything I can do for you?'

'Nothing much, right now.' Snape said irritably. He had never needed a house elf, and this was reminding him of how much more James Potter had had than him growing up. 'Just show us to our rooms.'

'Certainly, sir, right this way. Your things are already in your rooms.' The little elf squeaked happily, 'Master Harry, here is your room; Mistress Kaylee, this one is yours; and Master Severus, your room is that one down the hall. Is there anything else I can do for you?'

'Have breakfast ready for 8am, in the dining room I saw that branches off the foyer. That is all we need.'

'Yes, Master Severus, I will have it ready at 8am sharp ,sir.' With a sharp crack the elf was gone.

Severus turned to his new wards. 'You are to both go to sleep now. You are expected to be up, dressed and ready for breakfast, waiting in the foyer at 8am sharp. After breakfast I will go over the rules with you. You will regret it if I find you outside your rooms before the morning. That isall.' With that he spun on his heel and strode down the hall to his new bedroom.


	5. Rules

**Author's Note:** Another chapter or you. I hope you like it.

**Disclaimer: **Yes, I am actually JK Rowling, and own all the characters in the HP universe. I am writing this for no profit just for kicks. YEAH RIGHT! To tell the truth, I am a broke 16 year old girl who simply has an unhealthy addiction to the series.

**Chapter 5: Rules**

The next morning Severus woke up and got ready for breakfast. He arrived in the foyer at 7.59 and his new wards were nowhere to be seen. Knowing that he and Dumbledore had both put strong protective spells up and wards to notify him if they were breached, he knew that they hadn't been harmed. Therefore he was left to assume that the lazy brats simply had not gotten out of bed. He strode down the hallway and opened the door to Harry's room. _Blast! The stupid boy is not there! He must have disobeyed my simple instructions and gone off wandering. The bed doesn't look like it has even been slept in! _He decided to make sure Kaylee was in her room before launching a full scale search of the manor.

What he found in her room he did not expect to see. Curled up together, looking considerably small on the magnificent king size bed were Harry and Kaylee. _So this is why Harry's bed has not been slept in,_ he thought to himself. He cleared his throat loudly and waited for the twins to wake up. 'Professor Snape!' Kaylee exclaimed as she practically flew out of her bed. Severus was displeased to notice that she was wearing the same clothes as the night before.

'I do believe that last night I told you to go to your rooms. Rooms being plural. Why are you both curled up in here?'

'Well, Professor,' Kaylee started, 'Harry and I sort of have a connection. It lets us know that we are each okay. When we are sleeping is the only time we can not feel that connection and we have found the hard way that we can't sleep in separate rooms. We have to be with each other, to feel that we are both okay.' She explained this desperately, hoping that they were not going to get punished.

Severus could see that the girl was telling the truth and could even understand how they could build such a dependence on each other, given their history. The problem needed to be addressed, but it could be addressed later. He did have one query though, before they went down to breakfast. 'What do you do about this at Hogwarts?' he enquired.

At this Kaylee blushed. Severus looked at the girl interested. It was clear that she was the one who was going to be answering all of his questions; she always was the most like her mother, level headed, inquisitive, smart …wait a minute, did he just compliment a spawn of Potter in his head? He needed to get checked out.

Finally, Kaylee answered, 'Um, err, you see, I kind of sneak up to Harry's dormitories after everyone has gone to sleep and leave before anyone gets up. It's an arrangement that we kind of worked out after 3 nights of no sleep in our first year. I know harry would do the same for me, but the problem is, he can't get up to my dormitories, so I do it all the time. Are we in trouble?'

'No you are not. Though in future, you are to come to me if you have a problem like this, not merely circumvent my instructions. Am I understood?' he finished, looking at both his wards.

'Yes, sir,' they both replied.

Crack! A different house elf appeared to the one who had served them the previous night, also wearing a Scarlet pillowcase with the potter crest on it. 'Tuftsy is sorry to be disturbing you, masters and missus, but your breakfast is going cold. Tuftsy wonders if you wanted her to save it for later,' the small elf squeaked.

'No, that won't be necessary,' Severus replied. He led the twins into the dining room, it was a moderate size and, like most of the manor, was decorated in crimson and gold. He was suffocating in the blatant Gryffindor-ness of it all. _At least my room doesn't follow the colour theme,_ he thought to himself. The guest rooms they were staying in were all decorated in neutral colours. His was a light green, while the twins' rooms were decorated in a baby blue.

'Tuftsy made lots of foods, sir, because Tuftsy does not know what meals her new masters and mistress like. If masters and mistress want one type of food for breakfast, they should tell Tuftsy what they want made.'

Severus nodded and motioned for the twins to take a place at one of the three places set. They sat next to each other, across from him. On the table was a wide assortment of food. There were croissants, pancakes, fruit salad, toast, porridge, sausages, bacon, eggs and more. The twins, remembering the conversation from the previous night, knew that they were free to eat without permission being verbally granted, but they still waited for their Professor to start eating first, before hungrily devouring their breakfasts in silence.

After breakfast, Severus decided to lay down the rules. 'Listen carefully to what I say because these are the rules you are expected to follow while you are living with me.'

'You will treat me with respect at all times. As such you will refer to me as Sir or Professor at all times and adhere to anything I say.

'Each day you will devote a minimum of 2 hours to completing your homework until a time when I believe that you have completed it to a satisfactory standard.'

The twins nearly groaned at this rule but knew better from their time living with Uncle Vernon's rules. They both knew that Snape had impossible standards that were even harder for them to reach with his unfair treatment towards them. They would be lucky if they could finish it to his standards at all.

'While at Hogwarts you are expected to keep up to date with all your homework and achieve a standard of at least Exceeds Expectations in all of your classes.

'Bed time will be at 10 o'clock sharp. At this time I expect you to both be in your rooms in bed. I will talk to one of the house elves today about getting your rooms combined and your beds moved closer together, but you are certainly to sleep in separate beds.'

The twins resented being treated like babies. They never had a bed time at the Dursleys, and were certainly rarely in bed by 10 while at school. Yet again they didn't voice their opinions but they looked darkly at each other, something that didn't go unnoticed by Snape. He let it slide for the moment and would address it later as an example when, being the little miscreants they were, they decided to disobey the rules.

'Breakfast will be at 8 sharp. If you sleep in again like you did today, you will not go without food but you will have no choice in what you wish to eat and will be expected to eat it all without complaint. Lunch will be at 12 and dinner at 6. The same rules apply to these meals as for breakfast. However, if you miss any meals you will be grounded for the next day.

'During your free time, I must know what you are doing and where you are, You may not go flying until further notice or do any strenuous activity as you need time to recover from your injuries. Once you are recovered, you are permitted to do so but ONLY if you seek my permission first.

'You are not, under any circumstances, allowed to leave the confines of the estate unless you are with me.

'If these rules are not followed, there will be consequences. These consequences will be at my discretion and complaint about them will result in further consequences. You will NEVER be beat senseless like at your relatives house and you will never go without food, but trust me when I say that you will be sorry if you break the rules. You are now aware of them and as such, you have no excuse to break them. If you are unsure if any action is permitted or not, you are to consult me. Is that understood?'

'Yes, sir,' the twins chorused in sync, well-rehearsed from their many years of lectures from Vernon; or rather, his verbal abuse.

'Now you are to both to go to your rooms and unpack your things. Lay them all neatly at the bottom of your beds so I can see what you have. When you are both finished, come and get me.' The twins hastened out of the dining room and did as they were instructed.

Within 5 minutes they both had their small piles of belongings laid neatly on their beds as requested and all that was left to do was clean up the scraps of quills and parchment that littered the bottom of their trunks. Once that was done, they went to get their Professor.

Severus entered Kaylee's room and was surprised by the very small pile of belongings, then he remembered the state the two were found in and was again angered by the treatment they received by their so called 'family'.

She had her schoolbooks from her previous year, two sets of her school uniform and a purple knitted jumper with a silver butterfly knitted into it that bore the signs of having been knitted by the Weasley matriarch. The rest of her muggle attire consisted of the ratty blouse and skirt that she was currently wearing, which hung limply off her thin frame, and two summer dresses that had been roughly cut at the hem, so that they were not too long.

Harry's possessions were similar to his sisters, except his sweater was red with a gold snitch and instead of summer dresses, he owned a well-worn pair of trousers that were about four sizes too big or him and held up by a piece of rope and a t-shirt that looked big enough to pass as a small tent. In addition, at the foot of his bed were his Nimbus 2000, and his father's old invisibility cloak.

Recognising it from his years at Hogwarts and knowing how much mayhem the marauders managed to cause with it, he promptly confiscated it until further notice. Harry protested indignantly and earned himself 100 lines of '**I will respect Professor Snape at all times and must not complain about any action taken by him'.**

Severus decided that as they needed their school things for the coming year, they would visit Diagon Alley, under heavy glamours of course, and while they were there the twins would receive a new wardrobe.


	6. Shopping

**Author's Note:** Sorry dear readers that I have taken so long to update, I had exams and then wrote this chapter and couldn't work out how to finish it so after three weeks of struggling…I GIVE UP! This ending is the best I can do…sorry if you don't like it.

**Disclaimer:** Still not the wonderful JK Rowling and still don't own Harry Potter.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Shopping**

When they arrived at Diagon Alley Severus was happy to note that nobody seemed to recognise them, he had laid very strong glamours but there was always the off chance somebody would recognize one's mannerisms.

Kaylee now had long, wavy, honey blonde hair, and blue eyes and was wearing her best dress which had been shrunk to fit her a bit better and a few cleaning charms placed on it to remove the layers of grime that had built up over many years of nearly daily wear and simply did not come off when washed in cold water without any soap. The Dursleys had not permitted them the privilege of washing their clothes in a machine.  
Harry had short, cropped blonde hair and brown eyes and was wearing his school shirt and a pair of Severus' own pants that had been shrunk to fit. The old clothes of Dudley's he'd been wearing were in such a state of disrepair that not even magic could make them look presentable.

Severus was dressed in midnight blue robes, given to him a few years previous by Albus, suggesting he vary his colour scheme a bit. Needless to say, this was the first time he had worn them. Like the twins, he also had blonde hair, but his was long and was tied up in a ponytail behind his head.

He started along the street towards Madame Malkins'. She had recently supplied a line of muggle wear that would be suitable for the twins and he reasoned that if he saw to this first, the clothes may be ready by the time they left. He stopped in his tracks after a few paces. The twins had not followed and were still waiting awkwardly beside the fireplace. _Merlin help me,_ he thought to himself. Why on earth weren't they following?  
The walked back irritably to the twins and waited for an explanation. When he was met with only the top of each of their heads as they looked down at their feet, he decided to actually voice his question.  
'Why are you two not following me?' he snapped, beginning to loose his patience. The twins just flinched at his sharp tone and continued to look at their feet. 'I'm waiting…' he added after a few more moments of silence, this time making an unconscious effort to soften his tone.  
Harry was the first to speak up. 'We don't have any money yet sir, we need to go to Gringotts first,' the little boy said hesitantly, worried that the professor may think it too much of a hassle.  
'There is no need, I have the allowance provided to your Guardian from your trust vault with me, it should cover everything.'  
When he saw the look of confusion pass over both young faces he figured the Dursleys had never told them that they received such an allowance on a monthly basis, more than enough to compensate the costs of raising two children.

After that little misunderstanding the twins followed their guardian throughout the shopping trip, only arguing on the case of clothes, where they believed he bought them far too much but after an icy glare from their Professor because they were attracting too much attention from the other patrons in the shop, they instantly relented and hung their heads contritely. With no more mishaps, the shopping for the essentials and school supplies was finished within hours and they were left with about three quarters of an hour before their new wardrobes would be ready at Madame Malkins'. Cursing his dilemma, and realizing that he was beginning to get hungry, Snape decided that he would pass the time by allowing the twins to browse a few shops, pick up the robes and then head back to the manor for lunch.  
'We have three quarters of an hour hour before your robes will be finished, where do you want to go?' he asked the twins, internally shuddering at what their suggestions would be, something mischievous no doubt.

The twins looked at each other, shock evident on their faces, they had never really been asked where they wanted to go before, while accompanied by others. When they went with Hagrid, he had taken them to shops he thought they would like, and with the Weasleys, Ron, Ginny and Hermione had dragged them wherever they liked. They soon snapped out of it, however, and simultaneously said 'Scottwell's' making Severus wonder, not for the first time, if the twins could communicate telepathically. Knowing the place was a second hand bookstore, but having never actually been there, he let the twins lead the way. They wound through the backstreets of Diagon Alley coming to an old bookstore with a barely readable sign that read:

**Scottwell's Second Hand Books. Est.1895.**

As Kaylee entered the old bookstore she smiled for the first time since she had left Hogwarts. They had gotten completely lost going through the floo network last year with the Weasleys and the shop assistant had kindly shown them to the main network point for the alley. After telling Hermione about it she had immediately wanted to visit and it had quickly become the twins' favourite place. When the Dursleys had gone to visit Aunt Petunia's friend, Annabelle, for a week the twins had been left in the house alone with a thorough beating and a threat to do their chores or else. Kaylee and Harry had entered the Alley, under natural glamours of course, and purchased some healing balm for their injuries and spent the rest of the day in the shop. They hadn't finished their chores for that week but had already agreed that having been away from them for a week, Vernon would not even need an excuse to wail into them.

The middle aged woman standing behind the counter spoke 'Hello there dearies, back again? You are both looking a lot healthier than you did last time oh and you've brought another friend too!'  
'Morning, Mrs Puce. How are you today? Do you need help with new books, again?' Harry asked politely, far more politely than Severus had ever thought a Potter was capable of.  
'That would be lovely Harry. Only, if you're interested, I've got a few books the two of you can have. I think there's one Kaylee would like especially.'  
'Excuse me, madam,' began Severus, growing concerned, after all, her recognition could have been a simple case of mistaken identity before but she had just stated their names. 'How is it that you can see through my glamours?'

The lady smiled serenely and removed a pair of dark glasses he had not noticed she was wearing. His years as a spy were the only thing preventing him from gasping in surprise. Her eyes looked like they had been slashed repeatedly with a knife.  
'My husband was a muggleborn. Eighteen years ago, Geoffrey and I were paid a little visit by a group of Death Eaters. They killed him and our little girl, Sara. Aurors turned up before they could kill me, but I was hit with several pieces of glass as they blew out a window while leaving. I have been blind ever since. My body and magic have compensated for my loss of sight by allowing me to see magical signatures. I recognized Harry and Kaylee's.'

'Very well,' replied Severus, using legilimency to confirm that she was indeed telling the truth. He was confident, given her past, that she would not be inclined to report this to any Death Eaters, but precautions had to be taken. 'Madam, would you mind if I were to ask you to perform a Wizards Oath to swear that you won't tell anyone that you saw us here today? It is just a precaution.'

The lady gave a little smile, 'Of course, you are just trying to keep them safe. It is nice to see someone looking out for them for once, their auras are usually in such bad condition.'

Severus simply nodded at that comment and performed the necessary oath.

Once it was done, Mrs Puce turned to Harry and Kaylee. 'I've just received a new box of books that I haven't been able to sort yet, would you like to help me put prices on them and put them on the shelf?' She indicated to a large box in the corner of the store.  
The twins nodded and busied themselves performing the task for the next half hour as Severus observed, shocked that they would voluntarily do work.

A tiny part of his subconscious wondered wether he may have been unfairly biased against them and only saw what he wanted to see, but this was overridden by the more dominant part of him that never admitted he was wrong.

Once the work was done Mrs Puce thanked them for their help and handed each a book.

'Thank you, ma'am, but we don't expect these. We just wanted to help like usual,' Kaylee replied, trying to hand the book back to the storeowner.

'It is nothing at all, dear, you save me so much time. I insist that you have them, and enjoy them too.'

With that, they headed out the door, thanking her again for the books. Then they picked up their robes and headed back to the manor for lunch.


	7. Conflict

**Author's Note: **Hello my lovely readers, here is another chapter for you. Sorry it took so long I had limited access to my computer then when I finally did, I had a case of writers block. Special apologies to SilverMoon100 and sjrodgers108 as you did review asking me to update and I said I would soon but didn't. I hope you all enjoy the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I wish I owned Harry potter, I wish I could claim ownership for the amazingness that is JK Rowling's little world, but unfortunately I don't. If I did I would not be:  
a) Broke  
b) Stuck doing year 12  
or c) Writing this stuff for free.

**Chapter 7 - Conflict**

When they arrived, Severus was pleased to note that the house elves had already prepared lunch for them. As requested by the note he had sent them while at Scottwell's, today they were to have salad rolls.  
The small dining table had been set out with small plates of sliced tomato, cheese, lettuce, grated carrot, sliced beetroot and four bean mix. The sauces, arranged in four small circular bowls, were avocado, mayonnaise, hummus and ranch dressing. Freshly baked rolls were arranged in a small basket in the middle of the table.  
After Severus helped himself to the food, the twins did likewise, savouring the delicious rolls and even taking seconds.

After lunch they were sent to do their designated amount of homework. As they walked into their rooms they gasped. The wall that once stood separating the two rooms had been removed and the two king size beds had been moved next to one another. Their wardrobes had been positioned on opposite walls and instead of having two separate desks, they had been replaced with a mahogany table with two chairs had been positioned against the wall.

They decided that it would probably be best if they worked on each class's assignment at the same time so that they could consult each other should they need help. They decided to do Potions first, given the position of their new guardian.  
They had never really struggled at potions, but had rather been disheartened by Snape's constant bullying and so had always left their Potions homework for last. No matter how hard they had tried the had always received poor marks, despite knowing their stuff, so when late at night and after they had finished all their other homework, they generally settled down to do their Potions with the consolation that even if it were complete gibberish, they weren't likely to have scored higher if they had completed it first.  
They began their assignment, 3 feet on the properties of moonstone and its preparation and usefulness in a variety of healing potions and had written two and a half feet of it two hours later when Professor Snape walked in to check on their progress.

'Show me your assignments' he said, eyeing the two suspiciously, he noted both the textbooks lying on the desk were for his subject, and considering that their assignments were usually abysmal at best there was a strong likelihood that they were going to have to start again.  
They both handed him their assignments and he informed them that they had free time until dinner. They decided to use the start of this time to sort through their new possessions and put them away.  
Once all their purchases were all neatly hung up in their wardrobes, which were expanded on the inside so that there was limitless room, Harry let out a sigh.

'Are you all right, Harry?' his twin asked, concerned.  
'I guess,' came his sad reply. 'I just really wish Snape hadn't taken the cloak. It's the only thing that I have left that belonged to dad. It just makes me feel like I've lost a part of him.'  
'Well, we could always ask him, later when he's in a good mood, explain to him how important it is to you…he might give it back.'  
'No he won't, it's _Snape_! He _hates_ me! He just took it away. HE _wants_ me to be miserable, HE ALWAYS HAS!'  
'Harry! He's being NICE! For _once_, our guardian is taking care of us. We haven't been hit, we haven't been made to do chores, and he went out and bought us new things! Clothes, Harry! Clothes that are clean and warm and actually fit us! He hasn't insulted us once! He is not trying to make us miserable!'

Annoyed that Kaylee was taking the greasy git's side over his own, Harry got up and stormed out of his room. He was going to get that cloak, one way or another.

He silently slid into the Professors room, too filled with rage to contemplate the consequences of his actions. Thinking that Snape had not much time that morning to stash the cloak before going out he figured that it would probably be in the wardrobe, situated in on the back wall. He made his way over there and with trepidation he opened the cupboard door. There sitting on the top shelf, glittering as the sunlight hit it was his father's invisibility cloak. He grabbed it and stuffed it under his shirt.  
'When I told you to treat me with respect at all times, Mr Potter, that included not rifling through my room without permission,' Professor Snape said in a dangerously silky voice. Harry felt his stomach drop and jumped around to come face to face with one very irate Professor Snape.  
'The doors to my rooms are warded when I am not present, and alert me whenever anyone enters. Do you care to explain to me why you are in my room, going through my wardrobe and removing an item that I had every right to as your guardian and did remove from your possession this morning?'  
Harry just hung his head, knowing that no argument would get him anywhere. Snape probably wouldn't even care.

'Then I suggest, Mr Potter, that you retire to your room for the remaining time before dinner while I think up your punishment. Give me the cloak.'  
Harry reluctantly handed the cloak over, furious, but also sensible enough to know that to disobey now would be nearly suicidal as Snape looked to be barely restraining himself.  
He quickly made his way to his room and sat anxiously on the bed. Kaylee gave him a look that said, '_You didn't want to listen to me before, I don't want to talk to you now,' _and walked out of the room.

She walked down the hall to the dining room and spotted a house elf.  
'Excuse me, could you tell me where the Library is?' she asked knowing that an old family like the Potters would have had one and wanting to check out the collection while cooling off for a bit. Sometimes her brother was too over emotional. She could understand why he was so upset, and loved her brother dearly, but he was being irrational. Perhaps it was harder for him because Snape had always been that little bit more venomous to Harry than her. She supposed that this was because she tended to try to keep her head down and stay out of things, while Harry had a much more vocal temper. He had always kept himself under control while at the Dursleys, as he knew that if he did anything, she would be hurt too, but while at Hogwarts, especially in Snape's class, it sometimes got the better of him.  
'Yes Miss, Tuftsy will show you there now.' She led Kaylee up the staircase and around to the right.

The first impression Kaylee got when entering the library was of its size. It had to be bigger than the Hogwarts library. Hundreds of thousands of books sat on rows and rows of mahogany shelves. She found herself excited at the prospect of so many books, and resolved to bring Hermione there. The girl would be in Heaven. The second observation was that there was an area on muggle literature where greats such as Shakespeare and Charles Dickens laid. The third was that the library was not, as she had originally thought, empty. Sitting on a couch, his back to her, head down reading a book was Professor Snape.

Knowing that her brother when caught would not have even tried to defend himself she felt that she owed it to him to make his side of the story heard. She cautiously approached her professor, and halted a couple of paces in front of him, clearing her throat to alert him of her presence. He looked up. He was obviously still agitated from his encounter with Harry, but seemed to be calmer than when he had stalked past her room immediately after the incident.  
'Sir,' she began nervously, not wanting to feel her professor's ire, yet knowing that she really should put Harry's perspective forward.

Professor Snape nodded, allowing her to continue. No doubt this was about his encounter with her brother earlier; he had probably sent her in an attempt to lessen his sentence. It wasn't going to work, but he might as well hear her excuses, he was actually rather curious as to the motive behind Harry's actions after they had been so well-behaved today. Perhaps she could shed some light on that.  
'Sir, I would like to start by saying Harry didn't send me here, he probably wouldn't even like it if he knew I were here now, but I have to ask you to be lenient on him. That cloak is the only thing he has left of our parents. Whenever Uncle Vernon would… punish us… he used to cling on to the cloak, I think as a reminder that they were real, and that they did love us. I was given a locket, in first year, that used to belong to my mother, but I left it out one night…I forgot to hide it under the floorboard and Aunt Petunia found it and pawned it in front of me, the next day. I felt like I had lost my last connection to them, Harry shared his cloak with me. I know how he feels, he just wanted it back. We miss them so much, and we can't even remember them. It is his last connection.' She finished her speech in tears and silently left the room.

Severus rubbed his temples, he had a lot to think about.


End file.
